Are you looking for a Google Sheets vacation tracking template that can keep track of your employees’ or students’ time off? Look no further.
In this article, I’m sharing one of my best templates: the Google Sheets employee vacation tracking template (you can also use this template as an employee paid time off tracker).
This template is perfect for tracking paid time off, holidays, and sick days. You won’t have to worry about keeping track of everyone’s time off anymore!
Crawlan.com has an amazing vacation tracking template available on Google Sheets. You just have to make a copy of it to start using it.
To make a copy, go to “File > Make a copy”.
I initially created this vacation tracker on Excel. Since then, I’ve received hundreds of requests for a Google Sheets version of this tracker. So, I created this version on Google Sheets.
It’s a great vacation tracking template and it’s packed with features. Let me show you how to use it effectively.
How to Use the Google Sheets Vacation Tracking Template
The basics for using this template are as follows:
- Specify the date and year you want to track vacations for in cells A1 and A2.
- Change the employee name in the “Name” column to the names of your employees or students.
- Use codes to mark the dates with the type of vacation they are taking.
Here’s a preview of what the vacation tracking looks like:
In this vacation tracking:
- You can specify the year and month. As soon as you enter the month number in cell A3 (1 for January, 2 for February), the tracking updates and only displays the columns for that month. The other columns are hidden.
- You can enter any vacation code you want, and the vacation will be accounted for. Some pre-defined codes will be highlighted in red. You can also use the H1 and H2 vacation codes for half-day leave, to mark a leave that counts as 0.5. If you want to use your own custom vacation codes, replace the ones in this list with the ones you want. Note that the last two vacation codes are set to be half-day leaves only.
- The tracking gives you a monthly total as well as an annual total of all vacations. It also gives you a breakdown of vacations for the entire year (by vacation types). So, it can be used for all types of vacation calculations.
- If you have a day off other than Saturday and Sunday, you can specify the working days and non-working days by selecting Yes/No for the corresponding days. If a day is a non-working day, it is highlighted in gray on the tracker.
- You can specify holidays in the “Holiday Tracker” tab of the spreadsheet. These holidays are also highlighted in orange on the tracker, and vacations on these days are not counted.
IMPORTANT: In this template, the vacation tracking is designed to record vacations from January to December. But if you want to change the recording period to April-March or any other period, you can do so by changing the value in cell A1 (you will need to unhide the row). For example, if you want the year period to be from April 2021 to March 2022, enter 4 in cell A1. The 4 would mean the vacation tracking will now start from April.
Please note that this tracking is composed of many formulas and also uses a Google Sheets script in the background. So, it may take a few seconds to update when you make a change.
For now, I’ve created this tracking for 50 employees/students. You can easily add more rows. Just copy and paste the vacation tracking rows, and it will work fine.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Vacation Tracking Template
I have received many questions about this vacation tracking template. I have decided to answer some of these questions here. If you don’t find the answer to your question, leave a comment, and I will try to respond as soon as possible:
Q: Can I use my own custom vacation codes in this tracking?
A: Yes! You can use your own custom codes by modifying the existing codes in cells NX8:NX17. You also need to specify the same code in cells NL5:NU5. For example, if you change the vacation code for working from home to X, you also need to change it in NR5. Also note that the last two vacation codes will only count as half-day leaves.
Q: Can I track multiple years of vacations in the same tracking?
A: No! You cannot track multiple years in the same tracking. One spreadsheet will serve as an annual vacation tracker and cannot track multiple years. However, you can create a copy of the spreadsheet for another year of tracking.
Q: Why is this template slow when I make changes?
A: In theory, it should be fast when you simply use it to add vacations. However, when changing months, it may take a few seconds. This is because the tracking is filled with formulas and uses a script in the background. Give it a few moments to update.
Q: When I change months, the existing vacations are also reflected in the modified month.
A: This happens when you use cell A1 to change the month. Do not use A1; instead, use cell A3. A1 should only be used in a very specific case when you want to change the start month from January to something else (like changing it to April to track vacations from April to March).
Q: How can I create a vacation tracker on Google Sheets?
A: You can always use a standard calendar template and use your own codes to mark employee vacations. Otherwise, you will need to use a lot of formulas. We recommend simply using a free template like the one in this guide.
What You Need to Create the Vacation Tracking on Google Sheets
- Many formulas (like SUMPRODUCT, VLOOKUP, INDEX, and MATCH).
- Conditional formatting to highlight vacations and holidays.
- A few lines of code to show and hide columns.
- Dropdown lists to select working/non-working days.
Click here to download the template. You will need to make a copy to use it (go to “File > Make a copy”).
Whether you’re looking for a sick day spreadsheet, a paid vacation tracking template, or a vacation tracker, we hope you find this Google Sheets vacation tracking template helpful. You can also use it as a vacation planner or employee vacation tracker on Google Sheets.
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